Release Notes 56.0

The link for the software update to version 56.0 is http://vodia.com/downloads/pbx/version-56.0.xml, please see Software Update how to update the software.

User Web Interface

Missed calls. We have reworked the missed call list. Now like in most email tools, new missed calls are presented in bold font, and missed calls that have been read or answered already will be printed with regular font. The user now has the option to mark missed calls as "done".

Predefined IM. Users can now use predefined messages and predefined message groups for sending messages to the phones. This speeds up communications when repetitive notifications are done.

DND reasons. Users can provide a text with their status that will be visible to other users if they use the web browser.

URL calling. When using URL for calling, the encoding was not right and could cause problems with numbers starting with "+".

Web browser calls. Upgrades for Chrome required a change in the WebRTC implementation of the Vodia PBX to allow phone calls again. When a WebRTC client tries to connect to the PBX, the PBX should not ask for the client certificate any longer.

Administrator web interface PBX

Password texts. There were a few areas where the password matching was displaying "undefined".

Email lists. Entering email lists was confusing because it requires semicolons as separators, not spaces like with most other lists. We have added a JavaScript code that will now automatically convert the space separated input to semicolon-separated input.

Domain creation. When a domain could not created, there was no hint on the web interface that the creation has failed. That was quite annoying and has been improved now.

Bulk actions. In the domain, there are some more bulk actions that apply to the list of selected extensions.

Trunk headers. Some trunk header drop-down were simply not useful and caused problems when used.

Dial plan. If there is already a dial plan in the domain, setting up the first trunk in the domain will not create another dial plan.

Digit masking. Call lists in the domain can now mask digits, so that only the last 4 digits are visible. This is in some countries needed for privacy reasons.

Core PBX

PCAP. The PBX was already able to generate PCAP files for extension or trunk call legs. Starting 5.5.0, the PBX now puts those call legs into one PCAP file, so that the interaction between the different call legs becomes very easy.

Subscriptions. When a SIP phone was trying to subscribe to a resource that does not exist, the PBX would leve it to the phone to retry again later at a time determined by the phone. The problem with that is that some devices keep that retry duration short, resulting in a lot of unneccessary requests. The new version tells the phone to try again much later, by default one hour.

Call recording. When the PBX was sending out ad-hoc recordings, those emails looked like voicemail messages. There was no way of automatically sorting them into different email folders. The new version will have the possibility to use a different subject header. It will also always attach the recording itself, no matter what was selected in the extensions settings. Also if the user specifies a different email address, the system will send it there instead of the default extension email address.The agent information for calls was not stored properly.

Yealink phones. Yealink has a new model that required adding more buttons to the provisioning template. The phones call up star codes after they regain registration status, which can be very annoying in environments where the registrations are not very stable and even cause a heavy load on the system for such calls. The Yealink phones can now also use UDP, TCP or TLS transport layer depending on what has been selected on extension, domain or system level.

snom phones. We have added support for snom M300 phones, as well as some updates for snom D-series. The soft keys for the D7xx needed to be changed to make call recording possible again.

Grandstream phones. There are new models that required adding more buttons to the templates.

Cisco phones. We have added support for the Cisco 8800 series phones.

HTek phones. The H-Tek phones have some new buttons which are supported now and the timezones were reviewed.

Polycom phones. The template was changed to indicate that the phone should use persistent TCP connections, which is important for keeping the phone registered in the LAN for a longer time without loosing the connection.

Music on Hold. When uploading a new music on hold file through the API, the WAV cache was not flushed. That made it difficult to update music files while the system is running.

Provisioning. There were situations when creating a new extension the PBX automatically bound it to the next incoming provisioning request. This must be done explicitly now. We have also added the Akuvox, Grandstream and HTek mass provisioning server to the list.

Credit annoucement. When reading out how much credit is left with an extension, it now also reads out what extension number it is. This makes is possible to use the star code not only for telling the credit, but also telling what extension the device is on. This can be useful for devices that don’t have a display, e.g. ATA in environments where phones can get mixed up, e.g. in hotels.

Number blocking. Blocking a number was only working if the call was not accepted. This made only limited sense because in many cases users want to block numbers after accepting the call. The new version does that if the call ended less than 5 minutes ago.

Email When an email server rejected traffic with a ICMP message, the PBX could get into a loop where it would continuously send out requests to that server. In the new version it will still try, but at a much lower rate.

PMS When cleaning up an extension, the PBX now keeps the maximum number of registrations time for the extension, and the extension usage information. This is needed for some devices that can cause multiple registrations.Also many PMS systems require a permanent TCP connection, which required a special socket operation. This works only in Linux so far.There were also more functions added, for example moving guests from one room to another room and a settings that defines whether direct room-to-room calls are allowed. When calling from a hotel room, the mailbox will not prompt for a PIN even if it is the policy in the domain.

HTTP when downloading large files over a relatively slow connections, the web server could close the connection before the file was completely downloaded. This was a problem especially for domain backup. Now the PBX keeps the connection alive as long as the download is going on.

SIP History-Info Some environments require History-Info headers, for example AKNN, which has been added.

Domain backup The domain backup did not contain DND, call redial and missed call information. For moving domains from one server to another, it was decided to include that information, so that the users get a better experience. Also the MWI indicator was not re-calculated after a backup, which could lead to confusion information for the extension in the domain web interface.

Conference. Callers that are in the conference entrance have to make it into the conference within 90 seconds; if they are not able to do so, the system disconnects the call. This is to make sure that robots are not getting stuck in the conference room.

SIP subscriptions. We have added a table for subscriptions, so that after a restart of the server, phones that would re-register would get increasing CSeq-numbers. This was causing now another problem that entries would never expire, and eventually fill up that table. The new version will delete outdated records and keep the table small.

Certificates. The list of default trusted certificates was outdated and has been updated. There is a new button that resets the certificates upon request of the administrator, making the upgrade much easier.

Inbound cell phone numbers. The user could already specify multiple cell phones with their extension. However there was no distinction between using cell phones inbound and outbound. In the new version, the users can maintain a list of cell phones that are used both inbound and outbound, and cell phones that are only used inbound.

ACD agent entry. There was a JavaScript check for agents from old times that did not make any sense any more. It has been taken out.

Effective dial plan. We have added a setting for selecting the dial plans for checked in hotel guests. When hotel phones were using different dial plans for checked in and checked out guest, their web interface display was not consistent.

New relic. We have added support for new relic.

Twilio trunk. We have added the twilio trunk to the drop-down list.

LDAP. We have made the title of the extension available through LDAP.

Block caller-ID. The information about blocking caller-ID was not in the email about the extension status.

New Vodia Root CA. In order to take advantage of the SHA-2 hash function we have issued a new Root CA for Vodia. It does not have much practical relevance unless clients already trusted the old Vodia Root CA.

PMS filter. We added a filter for sending commands to the PMS. This makes it possible to send irritating messages like star codes to the PMS.

Voicemail transcription. The logic for enabling voicemail transcriptions on domain basis was the wrong way; instead of enabling it, it was disabling it.